A New Life: Sequel to Amber

Chapter 38

Rhett's POV

After about ten more minutes of Link sobbing, he ran out of tears and slowly laid down in the bed again. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Link, you alright now, brother?" Link slowly nodded and I sighed.

"Y-yeah, I am. I'm sorry, man. You're right. The doctor did say I did damage to that part of my brain, so it's possible for me to have unexplainable sudden emotions. If I get angry at you or something like that, please remember, whatever I say, I don't mean at all. If that happens... Thank you for being there for me, Rhett. I-I was such a mess. I hope I wasn't too much of a bother to you."

"Link, you weren't a bother to me at all. I want to help you as much as I can. This is partly my fault, so I'm gonna help you. And you couldn't help that this happened with your emotions. It's alright. Honestly, it doesn't bother me in the least. I want to be here for you. And I will be. I may postpone my proposal if you need me to be here. I can wait a few more days." I smiled comfortingly at him.

"Rhett, no, don't do that for me. I'll be okay. Please, you made plans to go on a date, you can't let her down on that. You shouldn't wait because I'm hurt, that's ridiculous. Please, don't do that."

"Alright, I won't, but I am gonna spend a lot of time here. Keep you company and that sort of thing." I smiled and he chuckled lightly and smiled back.

"Thanks, Rhett. I really, really appreciate that. On Saturday, you gotta tell me how everything went. And you can grab your ring whenever. It'll be in the exact same place. You have a key to my house still, right?"

"Yep. It's on my key ring. I'll pick up the ring Friday morning before heading over here again. So, how are you feeling right now? Any better?"

"Eh,' Link smiled slightly. "Not so much. I mean, I'm not terrified anymore, but in a lot of pain. But that's to be expected. Thank you again for being there with me when I was going through that. My head, and I didn't think this was possible, is even more of a jumbled mess than usual." Link smiled and laughed slightly. I laughed a little too.

"Wow, I didn't think that was possible either! Just kidding, but if you feel any emotions coming on, tell me. Alright. Are there any signs to that?" Link nodded and yawned.

"Yeah, very short-term memory loss. If I hadn't fainted before, when I first fell something would have happened. Remember I said I forgot everything? So, if I start forgetting things, once I remember, my emotions are gonna go nuts. It's kind of a scary thought. I can't control myself or calm down until eventually my brain snaps back. I don't want it to happen again, but it will be these next few days until it recovers. Again, if I say something that upset you, I don't mean it at all." I smiled reassuringly and nodded. 

"I know you wouldn't. I understand and I won't get angry with you either. You can't help it. It'll be fine. Don't feel bad if it does happen."

Link smiled and yawned again. "Thanks, man. Getting tired. This pain medication does that."

"Get some rest, it'll probably help you feel better. I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Thank you, Rhett. You really have no idea how much I appreciate you doing this. Thank you."

"I want to be here for you. Now, stop talking and sleep." I laughed and smirked. Link smiled back and pull the thin blanket up to his chin. He closed his eyes.

"Night, Rhett. See you later." He smiled and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Christy's POV

"Amber, sweetheart, please eat your lunch. You need to eat something." She glared back at me and shook her head.

"I'm not hungry, and you're not my mom. I'm going to my room." She got up and ran to her room, slamming the door and locking it. I sighed and sat down. I slowly ate my lunch in silence. I could hear screaming and crying through from Amber's room. She was blaming herself all day for Link being in the hospital. I had tried to get her to calm down, but she just snapped and lashed out at me. She used to really love when I came over. She seemed to like me a lot, but right now, she hates me. I have to fix this before Link finds out. He wouldn't take that well.

This isn't really her fault though. She had an awful life before Link helped her. And it's caused damage. I heard something crash upstairs. I got up and ran to her door upstairs. "Amber, Amber, is everything alright?" My voice was worried, but kind. 

"N-no. Christy, I'm so sorry..." I heard the door unlock and it opened, revealing a girl with puffy, red eyes and a tear stained face. In her hand, she held a picture of Link and her. They were so happy. Link had his arms over her shoulders and his head rested atop her's. They both had huge smiles, but the glass was completely shattered and the frame was cracked. Amber started to cry again and I hugged her tightly, kneeling down so I wasn't as tall compared to her.

"Oh, Amber. Sweetheart, we'll fix it. It's okay. Do you want to talk, honey?" I felt her nod slightly as she cried on my shoulder. "Alright. Let's sit down on your bed." I stood up and side hugged her as we walked over to her bed and sat down. "Take your time, we have all night to talk. Just calm down first, don't force yourself to talk, sweetheart." Amber took a deep breath and after a couple of minutes, she started to talk.

"I-I'm so sorry, Christy! You have no idea. I was being such a brat to you. You're an amazing woman, and I'm so sorry I was being so rude. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I-I accidentally broke the picture of Dad and me. That's my favorite picture. I threw my pillow, and it knocked it over. I'm sorry for all of this, Christy."

"Shh... it's alright, Amber. I know you didn't mean any of it. You've had it rough, it's alright to just explode sometimes. It relieves stress and anger that have built up. I understand, honestly I do. And we'll fix the picture. Or replace the frame. Don't worry. We can do that today if you want. Why don't you let me rewarm your lunch and then we can take care of that. Sound good?" I smiled at her and rubbed her back.

"Y-yeah. Thank you, Christy. Thank you so much," Amber smiled.

"No problem, dear. Let's go." We went downstairs and I warmed her lunch again.

"I know you're not my mom, but I sure wish you were," Amber smiled and took a bite of her pasta. I smiled back and sat down.

"Me too, sweetheart. Me too."